When we at Ivy Coach hear the term “the college essay,” we instinctively roll our eyes because there is not one college essay. While The Common Application includes a Personal Statement that is submitted to every Common App.-subscribing school, most of America’s highly selective universities feature additional essays on their unique supplements — and these essays are just as critical as the Personal Statement.

Since many schools change their supplemental admissions essay prompts from year to year, especially last year after the Supreme Court struck down Affirmative Action in late June of 2023 (the essays are, in some ways, a legal loophole allowing colleges to consider a student’s background when weighing their case for admission), it’s hard to find all of the new prompts for America’s top colleges in one place. Until now, that is.

2024-2025 College Essay Prompts

Below, applicants to the Class of 2029, you’ll find this year’s essay prompts for America’s highly selective universities — directly from each school’s admissions office:

School	2024 U.S. News Ranking	2024-2025 Supplemental College Essays
Princeton University	#1	Princeton Essays
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	#2	MIT Essays
Harvard University	#3	Harvard Essays
Stanford University	#3	Stanford Essays
Yale University	#5	Yale Essays
University of Pennsylvania	#6	UPenn Essays
California Institute of Technology	#7	Caltech Essays
Duke University	#7	Duke Essays
Brown University	#9	Brown Essays
Johns Hopkins University	#9	Johns Hopkins Essay
Northwestern University	#9	Northwestern Essays
Columbia University	#12	Columbia Essays
Cornell University	#12	Cornell Essays
University of Chicago	#12	UChicago Essays
University of California, Berkeley	#15	UC Berkeley Essays
University of California, Los Angeles	#15	UCLA Essays
Rice University	#17	Rice Essays
Dartmouth College	#18	Dartmouth Essays
Vanderbilt University	#18	Vanderbilt Essays
University of Notre Dame	#20	Notre Dame Essays
University of Michigan — Ann Arbor	#21	Michigan Essays
Georgetown University	#22	Georgetown Essays
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	#22	UNC Essays
Carnegie Mellon University	#24	Carnegie Mellon Essays
Emory University	#24	Emory Essays
University of Virginia	#24	UVA Essays
Washington University in St. Louis	#24	WashU Essays

How to Address the 2024-2025 College Essay Prompts

Below, you’ll find Ivy Coach’s tips on approaching the 2024-2025 supplemental essay prompts at America’s highly selective universities. If we haven’t yet posted our annual tips for a specific university, whose essays are hot off the presses, rest assured that it will be posted in short order.

School	2024 U.S. News Ranking	2024-2025 Supplemental College Essays with Ivy Coach Tips
Princeton University	#1	Princeton Tips
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	#2	MIT Tips
Harvard University	#3	Harvard Tips
Stanford University	#3	Stanford Tips
Yale University	#5	Yale Tips
University of Pennsylvania	#6	UPenn Tips
California Institute of Technology	#7	Caltech Tips
Duke University	#7	Duke Tips
Brown University	#9	Brown Tips
Johns Hopkins University	#9	Johns Hopkins Tips
Northwestern University	#9	Northwestern Tips
Columbia University	#12	Columbia Tips
Cornell University	#12	Cornell Tips
University of Chicago	#12	UChicago Tips
University of California, Berkeley	#15	UC Berkeley Tips
University of California, Los Angeles	#15	UCLA Tips
Rice University	#17	Rice Tips
Dartmouth College	#18	Dartmouth Tips
Vanderbilt University	#18	Vanderbilt Tips
University of Notre Dame	#20	Notre Dame Tips
University of Michigan — Ann Arbor	#21	Michigan Tips
Georgetown University	#22	Georgetown Tips
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	#22	UNC Tips
Carnegie Mellon University	#24	Carnegie Mellon Tips
Emory University	#24	Emory Tips
University of Virginia	#24	UVA Tips
Washington University in St. Louis	#24	WashU Tips

Ivy Coach’s Assistance Tackling the 2024-2025 College Essays

If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission to America’s highly selective universities by submitting compelling narratives, fill out Ivy Coach’s consultation form, and we’ll respond by outlining our college counseling service offerings for seniors.